Let's say that, in the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Vimeiro on August 20, 1808, Sir Arthur Wellesley's immediate superior officer, Sir Harry Burrard, was for some reason or another distracted during the pursuit of defeated Marshal Junot's French army, and does not halt the British. Wellesley's other superior officer, Sir Hew Dalmryple, has a similar bout of inability to reach the front line the next day and as a result Wellesley manages to put out of action 20,000 French troops, horses, and cannon (IOTL Dalmryple overruled the future Duke of Wellington and opened negotiations with Junot in the notorious Convention of Sintra that led to the British navy shipping the entire French army and its loot to France, leading to the recall of all three British commanders and therefore the absence of Wellesley from Napoleon Bonaparte's personal campaign on the Peninsula).
The disaster in Portugal, coming on the heels of the disaster at Bailen in Spain in July where an entire French army corps under Dupont surrendered to the Spanish, electrifies Europe massively leading to a faster formation of the Fifth Coalition. The Emperor Napoleon is forced to lead an army into the Iberian Peninsula to restore the situation, but also has to keep a third eye on developments in Germany and elsewhere. Without a recall due to the Convention of Sintra, Wellesley is still on the Peninsula, and is present when the Corsican Tyrant moves in.
Now, this is Portugal 1808 and not Waterloo 1815 so Wellesley, who still has a reputation from his days in India, does not have the years of experience fighting various French marshals. He (may) face the personal wrath of Bonaparte this year, and fail, or otherwise fail against one of the emperor's other marshals. What does this mean for the future of British arms on the Continent without a Wellesley to stiffen them? Alternatively, what if Wellesley should somehow succeed against the French main forces, how will this affect the upcoming War of the Fifth Coalition and future coalition wars as well as the Peninsular War?
The disaster in Portugal, coming on the heels of the disaster at Bailen in Spain in July where an entire French army corps under Dupont surrendered to the Spanish, electrifies Europe massively leading to a faster formation of the Fifth Coalition. The Emperor Napoleon is forced to lead an army into the Iberian Peninsula to restore the situation, but also has to keep a third eye on developments in Germany and elsewhere. Without a recall due to the Convention of Sintra, Wellesley is still on the Peninsula, and is present when the Corsican Tyrant moves in.
Now, this is Portugal 1808 and not Waterloo 1815 so Wellesley, who still has a reputation from his days in India, does not have the years of experience fighting various French marshals. He (may) face the personal wrath of Bonaparte this year, and fail, or otherwise fail against one of the emperor's other marshals. What does this mean for the future of British arms on the Continent without a Wellesley to stiffen them? Alternatively, what if Wellesley should somehow succeed against the French main forces, how will this affect the upcoming War of the Fifth Coalition and future coalition wars as well as the Peninsular War?